Scrap NEET, sack Pradhan

As if the obstinate refusal to sack Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was not enough, the brutal suppression of the students’ protest led by the Cockroach Janta Party has indicated in ample measure that the Mode government is in no mood to concede the demand for the minister’s removal. Nor will it listen to a similar proposal from the collective Opposition. The Prime Minister’s suggestion to set up fast-track court to probe the affair only deflects the narrative from those seeking accountability from the government un der whose dispensation, paper leaks have become a regular affair. It is a tokenistic gesture.

The government had set up a committee even after a similar leak of NEET paper in 2024 but nothing came of it nor is anything known about its recommendation and implementation. Obduracy on the part of the government to fix responsibility manifests itself in dealing with the issue at the administrative level. Accountability is central to democracy and a show of sensitivity to people’s feelings through action is how it is measured. The Modi government’s response only portrays how insistent it is on betraying the people’s man date enthused as it is with expanding legislative strength through mergers and acquisition.

The resignation would have been a signal of the govern ment’s initiative and a display of sensitivity. Aside from how the issue would be dealt with, the question of holding NEET as a centralised method of admission to med ical colleges across the country, itself needs to be revisited. NEET was thought of primarily as a measure of reducing the burden of students facing multiple entrance examinations. Secondly, it was aimed at eliminating the scourge of capitation fee and check commercialisation of medical admission.

Thirdly, it was to ensure that only most meritorious students would get into medical education and would come out as doctors. Even a cursory look would suggest that access to medical courses through NEET has been rendered even more commercialised. Now the expenses have shifted from capitation fee to coaching institutes where coaching happens under totally dehumanised conditions. There have been reports of students being coached in fire unsafe buildings and basements vulnerable to deluge during monsoons.

Moreover, they are no longer affordable for students from lower-middle income groups. Secondly, students’ knowledge is increasingly becoming test-centric. Sustained academic performance is neither the cherished objective nor a benchmark of wholesome education. No wonder, students enrolled in PU/intermediate colleges in Sirsa, Siwan and Singrauli are marked present even when they are found studying in NEET coaching institutes of Sirsa, Sikar and Kota.

Should this humbug be allowed to continue with educa tion in mainstream schools and colleges? Not alone this. Medical admission has gathered such hype that even ordinary institutions have hiked their fee under the garb of imparting coaching for NEET. Even more grotesquely, NEET success has become the sole determinant of qual ity education.Looking at the vast geography and ecology of the nation it is evident that a centralised edu cational system carries more risks than benefits.

Prior to NEET, medical admissions at the state level, particularly in southern states were much fairer and efficiently managed. Centralisation has made them vulnerable to scams, paper-leaks, and re-tests. While accountability demands that the minister concerned be sacked, a return to efficient conduct urges scrapping of NEET altogether.